Breen faces his biggest test

GARY BREEN typifies this Republic of Ireland team in many respects. Swept in by the new broom, refreshingly irreverent and even a little cocky, then came the jolts of the Icelandic draw and Macedonian defeat. Now, questions are being asked, the biggest poser coming with tomorrow night's intimidating test here in the Steaua Stadium.

Talking to Breen in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest yesterday, he referred to the 3-2 defeat in Macedonia with the kind of hushed tones reserved for family tragedies. The innate self confidence remains, but there's no doubt it has taken a jolt.

"That's the case in any part of football. After a great team the next one is inevitably compared to them and they had phenomenal success. So it was always going to be hard for us. But I think Mick has got the young players out of nowhere. We weren't exactly in Jack's squad and no one had heard of us and suddenly he's got three or four lads who do well at this level. He should credited for what he's done there, but at the end of the day we've got to qualify. We think we still can do it."

Their comparative inexperience may perhaps reduce the fear factor against Hagi, Dumitrescu, Popescu, Petrescu and co. I don't know whether it's because we're a young team but all the boys are full of confidence. We're not in awe of anyone. Maybe that might be our downfall but hopefully it'll be a plus for us."

Nevertheless, Breen's own star has slipped a little, although he managed to retain something of his normal composure amid the self induced defensive carnage in Macedonia. Nevertheless, since the Macedonian game, he hasn't played a first team match for Coventry.

Although he's a cockney lad at heart, to understand Gary Breen you have to first understand his Irishness; consumed as he was by all things Irish through his parents Noreen (from Clare) and Des (Kerry) in Camden during his formative years.

The normally chatty Breen walked through the exit tunnel from the players' dressing room in Skopje without a word for anyone, lost in another world as distress etched his boyish face. He took the pain home with him to the Highfield Road training ground, but you believe him when he says this is his chance for redemption; that the lack of first team games won't affect his concentration.

"No, not at all. Gordon Strachan, spoke to me when we came back from the Macedonian game and, like I said, things were down and I didn't look that sharp in training. So he rested me for that game and we got a great result against Liverpool. Since then, they've pulled off a few results so you've got to wait for your chance to get back in but, no, I'm very confident coining into this game."

Ireland's choices at centre half are few; all the more so in light of Phil Babb's disappearance. Thus Breen is likely to provide the defensive bedrock of this Irish team alongside Steve Staunton at the heart of a traditional 4-4-2 formation. All part of the revisionist process.

As at international level, even more so at club level, Breen has had to adapt to newer, more rarified surrounds. It's been another step up a carefully negotiated ladder, from Maidstone through Gillingham, Peterborough and Birmingham to Coventry.

What strikes you about Breen is his willingness to learn. "I think the obvious way I can develop is in my physique. That's another thing they've taken me aside over at Coventry and we'll work at it over the summer. The biggest thing you learn about the Premiership is that they're very strong players, they can hold you off. I would say that's my most obvious weakness, but you wouldn't have to be Einstein to work that out."

Strachan's enduring belief in the player will sustain him through the summer months. It's been a momentous year, what with a lengthy absence due to a street mugging, a bigmoney move to Coventry and those international jolts. "I can't wait `til it ends now. It's dragging on a bit but if we get a result here it'll lift us all a bit."